Troubled commercial real estate loans brought down five of the six bank failures reported by the FDIC over the weekend, according Trepp, an analytics firm. There were six bank closings over the weekend, totaling 126 for the year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimated the six closings this week to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) a total of $347.6 million. The three Georgia banks were Bank of Ellijay, First Commerce Community Bank, and Peoples Bank. Regulators also closed Maritime Savings Bank in Wisconsin, Bramble Savings Bank in Ohio, and ISN Bank in New Jersey. According to Trepp, commercial real estate loans made up 82% of the $152 million in nonperforming loans held by the group. “We have seen a shift over the last several quarters, with commercial mortgages contributing a larger portion of the distress,” said Matt Anderson, a commercial real estate expert for Foresight Analytics, which is owned by Trepp. “Construction loans are still the largest source of CRE distress overall, but commercial mortgages have increased their share.” Residential mortgages made up less than 25% of the five of the six banks’ holdings. The exception, Bramble Savings Bank, had 59% of its holdings in residential mortgages. Foresight predicts that Georgia will produce the highest number of bank failures for the rest of 2010 and into 2011. It led the nation last year with 25 failures. Write to Jon Prior.

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